A New Beginning?
by JessiCAT1989
Summary: When Zuko is struck with lightning by Azula, he somehow manages to avoid death. But, he instead is transported to Karakura town. Can he survive the immense changes? And can Ichigo keep his soul reaper life a secret from the newest member of their household? Rated for language, and violence.
1. Chapter 1

Back with another story, dudes! I'm on a bleach kick again! Forgot how much I loved that show.

This one's kind of an odd crossover since its between ATLA and Bleach. But, I'm a nerd, and I like both. So...ya know...

Now, the time period in ATLA is supposed to be after the day of black sun, and after Zuko joins the group.

In Bleach, its supposed to be right after they defeat the bounts. Just before the arrancars start showing up. OH YEAH! Which means Ichigo still hasn't controlled his hollow power yet. So, if he seems a bit out of character, and less shouty, he's depressed. Since, ya know...he's losing his mind. Tends to make people a little sad...=/

ANYWAY! Onto the disclaimer!

Disclaimer-I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. Nor do I own Bleach. =[[

ALL RIGHT! How about we get on with it, shall we?

1111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111111

"Um...Aang? Are you lost? We've been circling this area for at least an hour now." Sokka asked, his aqua eyes trained downward.

The young boy steering Appa slowly turned his head, a sheepish smile spread across his face. "Uh...I thought the western air temple was around here. But I don't see it."

Zuko heaved a large sigh. Being the one in the group with the least amount of patience, he was silently beginning to simmer. Aang had said it would be the best place to practice fire bending, and with the date of Sozin's comet closing in on them, they needed to begin as soon as possible.

"Aang. Why don't we check the map again? Maybe if we take a look, we'll be able to find it easier." Katara suggested. Once again, she was the voice of reason among the group.

Toph snickered at her suggestion. "We've already looked at that map at least seventeen times. I don't think you're going to find anything different."

Sokka, clearly forgetting to think before he spoke, furrowed a brow at the girl. "What do you mean 'we' looked at the map? You can't see!"

Katara, without missing a beat, smacked her brother over the head. "Sokka!"

Toph just shrugged. "Its okay, Katara. We all know Sokka's an idiot."

Katara and Aang laughed at the earth bender's comment, while Sokka groaned, and muttered under his breath.

Zuko shook his head. He was almost at his breaking point. Didn't the avatar understand that time was running out for them? His father,-the fire lord, would have an unbelievably strong advantage. And with it, he would take over the world.

"Are you all right, Zuko?" A voice asked, snapping the boy from his thoughts. He quickly turned his head to find Katara's blue eyes trained on him, a look of concern on her tan face.

"Fine." He answered simply.

Katara cocked her head, obviously confused by his sharp tone. But just before she could say anything, Zuko felt as Appa was jerked sharply to the right. A blaze of lightning flashed past, and immediately Zuko knew who was responsible.

"Azula." He breathed, still clutching onto the flying bison's thick fur.

As if hearing her name, Azula appeared next to the group, carted by a war balloon.

"Well, hello, brother. Fancy meeting you here."

Zuko clenched his jaw tight, refusing to respond to his sister.

"Azula! What are you doing here?" Katara shouted. Her hand was already on her water pouch. At the ready to attack.

Azula just smirked at the girl. "Oh, I just thought my dear brother and I could have a little family reunion." She then turned her twisted gaze on Zuko. "Father wants to see you. Since you decided to join the avatar, he's pretty angry. I don't know if he'll forgive you this time." When this didn't seem to get a rise out of the boy, she went on. "Come on, Zuko. Let's have a fight. Just you and me. And maybe I'll let your friends go."

"Zuko! Don't do it. You can't take her on by yourself!" Katara yelled. "She's just trying to bait you."

When Zuko didn't respond, Sokka chimed in. "Yeah! We won't let you fight alone."

"Really?'' Azula asked. "Now does that seem fair? Five on one? Well. If that's how you want to play it, then I'll _play_ along."

In an instant, the dark-haired girl switched stances, and lightning appeared once more. Her eyes floated across each target. Then, she finally seemed to make up her mind as she pointed the blast in Katara's direction.

Frozen in place, Katara watched in horror as the lightning drew closer.

"No!" Zuko heard himself shriek. Before he could even think, he found himself directly in front of the girl, taking the hit.

At the turn of events, Aang abandoned steering Appa, and joined Toph and Sokka to attack Azula, and a few of her guards that had traveled with her.

Zuko could hear as Katara shouted his name, pleading for him to stay with her while she bended the water out of her pouch, and onto her hands. But Zuko could feel himself losing consciousness at an alarming rate. And it was becoming increasingly hard to catch his breath. Even with Katara's advanced healing abilities, there was no way he was going to survive this. Azula had attacked him at too close of a range.

When he could no longer keep his eyes from closing, he listened as the sounds of battle began to fade. And then, there was just blackness...

1111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111111

"Goooood MORNING, Ichigo!"

Ichigo instinctively stepped to the side as he entered the kitchen. Just in time to miss his father tackling him. Instead, Dr. Kurosaki slammed into the tile floor with a loud thud.

Ichigo, ignoring his father's groans of pain, joined his two younger sisters at the table for breakfast.

Yuzu immediately stood from her seat, rushing to her father's side. "Dad? Are you all right? Do you need me to get you anything?"

Isshin let out another moan, milking the attention he was receiving.

"Oh, honey. I'll be okay...But I do appreciate the concern." Even as the man said this, it came out as a whimper.

"Hey, dad. Instead of attacking Ichigo, why don't you go check on that patient we brought in this morning?" Karin suggested. Judging by her tone, she was already irritated by her father's antics.

"What patient?" Ichigo asked, taking a bite of his toast.

After helping her father up, Yuzu opened her mouth to reply. "We found a boy in the front yard this morning! He looked pretty hurt, but I think he'll be okay."

"In the...yard?" The red haired boy questioned, a puzzled expression on his face.

Karin merely shrugged. "Yeah. I guess he saw the sign out front, and couldn't make it to the door, or something." She then paused, setting her cereal bowl in the sink. "He had on the weirdest clothes though. They looked pretty ancient."

"Oh!" Yuzu shrieked, checking her watch. "Karin! We had leave! School starts soon!"

After Yuzu had dragged a complaining Karin out the door, Ichigo rose to his feet, at the ready to follow suit. "Well, dad. I guess I'll see you after school."

"Wait," Isshin began, his tone oddly serious.

"Yeah?"

"...Are you bringing home that cute girl after school?"

Ichigo smacked a hand to his forehead. "Agh! Dad! Why do you even ask?" Grabbing his bag, he strode to the door. "And probably not! She went back to the-...Um...she hasn't been at school lately!" And with that, he darted off to school.

Isshin chuckled at his son's behavior. "Oh, Ichigo. Maybe one day I'll be able to tell you I know all about your soul reaper powers...Until then, I think I'll enjoy watching your antics!"

1111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111111

The next few days seemed to go by without too much excitement. Since Ichigo and the others had defeated the bounts, things had been oddly quiet around Karakura town. Save the few stray hollows every now and then.

Yuzu continued to speak about the newest patient. Apparently he had finally awoken, and he seemed to be rather confused as to his whereabouts. However, Isshin assured them that this was common in the young boy's case. It appeared he had been electrocuted, almost killing him in the process.

They did manage to learn his name was Zuko, and he was undoubtedly lost. He kept mentioning something called an "avatar", and "bending". He seemed to have never heard of Karakura town, which led Isshin to believe he had lost his memory.

"I think we should let him stay with us!" Yuzu chirped one night at dinner while they had been discussing Zuko.

"Of course you do." Karin smirked. "You obviously have a crush on him."

Yuzu's face quickly transitioned from her usual pale white to a bright red. "I-I do not!"

Isshin chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, Yuzu. He can stay for a while. Hopefully his memory will return, and we can help him get back to his family." He then turned his attention to Ichigo, who seemed to be content in ignoring the entire conversation. "Starting tomorrow, I have him temporarily enrolled in your school. I need you to look after him for a little while, all right?"

Ichigo spit the bite of rice out of his mouth at his father's statement. "What? Why did you enroll him in school?"

"I'm hoping normal daily activities will help him regain his memory. Maybe being in a classroom will spark something."

A thousand different excuses flooded through the teen's mind as he tried to come up with something. How was he supposed to fight hollows, and babysit some kid all day? He couldn't keep the other half of his life a secret like that. And to top it all off, what about the hollow side of him that slowly seemed to be taking over? He could put the boy in danger. But of course he couldn't argue any of those points with his father. So instead he gave a slight nod of his head. "Fine."

The next morning, Ichigo packed his bag for school, waiting for Zuko to emerge from his newly designated room.

"Anyway, Zuko. My brother Ichigo will be taking you to school today! He's very nice, so you're in good hands!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes as he heard his sister's voice growing closer. He had noticed that ever since his soul had slowly begun to fuse with his hollow side, his temper was beginning to unravel.

When he heard their footsteps reach the room, he turned to find Yuzu standing next to a boy with messy dark brown hair. He was clad in one of the school uniforms, which made his golden eyes stand out even more. Ichigo could feel his gaze stray on zuko's left eye. It held a burn scar which struck the soul reaper as odd.

"Anyway, this is my brother, Ichigo!" Yuzu announced, causing Ichigo to snap out of his thoughts.

Zuko bowed his head slightly in greeting. "Its nice to meet you."

Ichigo ran a hand through his hair in an awkward manner. "Um...yeah. You, too. Anyway, we had better get going." He said, slinging his bad over his shoulder.

Zuko followed suit, striding over to follow Ichigo out of the door. Before they left, Ichigo heard Zuko say goodbye to his sister, causing the girl to giggle.

The Shinigami sighed, his mood already foul. He just prayed Keigo would settle down in his antics for once. He was unsure if he could handle his idiocy today.

"So...your name is Ichigo?" Zuko began. It was clear he was attempting to make conversation for the walk to school. "This town seems so...different."

Ichigo shrugged. "Yeah. I guess..." He was about to continue when he heard a beeping sound go off. "Dammit!" He cursed, digging into his pocket to retrieve his soul reaper badge. "Not now..."

"What is that?" Zuko asked, eyeing the odd makeshift necklace.

Ichigo hesitated in replying, trying to sense any spiritual pressure to locate the hollow. When he finally picked up on it, he turned to Zuko. "Nothing. Just stay here!" He yelled, darting off in the direction.

While he ran, he grasped Kon out of his bag. When he was certain no one was around, he ran the badge through the stuffed animal before his body.

When Kon's soul was inside his body, and Ichigo was clad in his soul reaper robes, Kon shot him a quizzical look. "Another hollow already? I thought you just killed one at like, four in the morning!"

"No time to talk, Kon! Just go take Zuko to school. I have to go!" And with that, the orange-haired teen continued on his quest.

It didn't take long to find the hollow. It appeared to be chasing a young girl's spirit. It had almost caught her when Ichigo intervened, drawing his giant zanpakuto.

"You are an ugly one..." Ichigo observed. As he pointed his sword, the hollow roared. "But you won't last long!"

In a few blows, the hollow fell. It evaporated slowly, and Ichigo could feel as relief began to sink in. Now he could head to school.

"Wh-what was that?"

Ichigo froze, his eyes widening while frantically trying to find the source of the question.

His gaze locked with that of Zuko's, and Ichigo knew his secret was over...

1111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111111

Sooo...what did you think? Please let me know! I loves me the reviews! I LOVES THEM! And macaroni and cheese...but I'm going to go out on a limb and say you can't send that to me through the internets...

But seriously. Hope you enjoyed, and I would REALLY like to hear your feedback!

LOVE YOU!

=o


	2. Chapter 2

Finally back with another chapter! Sorry guys! Got a new job, and I've been pretty busy with that!

Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter! MUAHAHAHAHA!

2222222222222222222222222222 2222222222222222222222222

All Ichigo could so was stand in place and stare. So many questions had begun to bombard him and he was unsure of where to begin.

How could this kid see him? He was supposed to be invisible to normal humans. Not to mention he shouldn't have been able to see the hollow.

A thought caused the teen to freeze in his tracks. Back when his soul reaper badge had begun to beep, Zuko had been able to see that, too. How could he have missed that?

"Um..." Ichigo's gaze flew up to find Zuko slowly approaching him. A cautious look had replaced the quizzical one he had worn previous. "What's going on?"

Ichigo slowly sheathed his large zanpakuto as he attempted to sort through his jumbled thoughts. How was he supposed to explain this to someone who had no idea what Soul Reapers were? Or hollows for that matter. He thought back to the first night he had met Rukia. He had been convinced she was just some crazy burglar spewing crap to distract him while she stuffed her pockets. And now, here he stood, a substitute Soul Reaper that was supposed to protect Karakura town.

His eyes flashed to Zuko's awaiting golden ones. Just as he was beginning to open his mouth to speak, a loud shouting could be heard as it quickly drew closer.

In the next sequence of seconds, Kon appeared, panting heavily as he doubled over.

"I-Ichigo! I lost track o-" He trailed off as he gasped for breath. "Of that Zuko kid! I think he's suspicious!"

Ichigo let out a sigh, relieving some of the tension that had built up in his body. "Ya think?"

Kon quickly jolted upright. His gaze fell towards Zuko, who seemed even more puzzled than before.

"Oh, crap! I'm sorry! I didn't know he came back here!"

Ichigo ignored the mod soul's incessant ramblings to stride over to where his body now knelt. Without warning, he reached for the soul reaper badge and ran it through the wailing Kon. Immediately a small green pill flew out as Ichigo's soul drifted back into the lifeless form still knelt on the ground.

"Dammit, Kon." He said, stuffing the pill into the stuffed lion. As Kon's shrill voice started up once more, Ichigo shoved the toy back inside his bag.

"Looks like I have some explaining to do." The orange-haired boy began as he got to his feet. "But first, we need to get to school." When he sensed Zuko's impatience, he went on. "I'll tell you what you wanna know after. I don't wanna hear my dad whine about me missing school again."

"All right." Zuko finally agreed, as they headed back in the direction of the high school.

All day, Ichigo seemed to be going through a haze. In between cramming together an explanation that didn't make him seem completely insane, and trying his best to avoid Keigo, the shinigami was shocked to realize it was already almost the end of the school day.

His brown eyes turned instinctively towards where Zuko was seated on the other side of the room. Was it a good idea to tell this guy everything? Ichigo had just met him that morning. What if he couldn't be trusted?

The final bell rang, interrupting his thoughts as the other teens shot up from their chairs. It was clear from the way they raced through the doorway they were at the ready to enjoy the rest of their day outside of these walls. Pretty soon, it was just he and Zuko left.

The dark-haired boy in question grasped his bag in hand, making his way over to the still motionless Ichigo.

"All right. Let's get going." Zuko said, making it clear he was ready for some answers.

Ichigo merely nodded, not entirely sure his mind was completely made up yet. However, he led the strange boy to a deserted alley a couple of blocks from the school.

After making sure the area was clear, Ichigo took a seat, resting his back against a wall.

When Zuko followed suit and turned his topaz-colored eyes back to where Ichigo sat across from him, Ichigo took a deep breath.

_Here goes nothing..._

"Look, I'm what you would call a 'Soul Reaper'."

Zuko paused. He seemed almost startled by that statement. When he had finally recovered, he asked, "'Soul...reaper'? Is that like a grim reaper?"

Ichigo seemed to ponder that question for a moment before replying. "I guess you could think of it in that way. I help to send souls where they're supposed to go. When they stay here, I send them to the Soul Society." He noted the confused expression on Zuko's face, and continued. "That's a place where people are sent after they die. At least, most are."

"So...What was that thing from this morning that you were fighting?"

"That was a hollow. Those are evil souls." He then stopped himself. Was it really right to call hollows evil spirits? That was how Rukia had first explained them to him. But that wasn't the case with all. Some were just spirits who were unable to let go.

He briefly thought back to Orihime's deceased brother.

"So..." Zuko said, trailing off. He fell silent for a few moments, seeming to ponder just what he wanted to ask.

When he continued to sit in stunned silence, Ichigo opened his mouth to speak.

"Look...I know its a lot to take in. And I'm not even entirely sure I should be telling you this, but-"

"Idiot!"

Before Ichigo could turn to see who had just interrupted his conversation, he felt something hard hit him on the top of his head.

"Agh!"

"What the hell are you doing?"

The teen froze as the voice finally registered with him. And then, his explanation to Zuko was completely forgotten...

2222222222222222222222222222 22222222222222222222

OOOOooooo! Who could it be?!

Let me know your guesses! =D


End file.
